Can a driver have his own private engineer?

Yes, but with limitations. Driver's cars may only be run by his F2 engineer. Each driver's F2 engineer is the only person who is allowed to communicate directly with the driver's mechanic to implement changes, so all communication whether from the driver or anyone assisting them privately must route through the F2 engineer. This is to ensure that the F2 engineer knows exactly what is going on with their car and that any changes are within the regulations.

The F2 engineers are of very high calibre and have the advantage that they are all co-ordinated by the F2 chief engineer, so any general issues relating to circuits and their characteristics are shared by all F2 engineers. Most drivers, including 2010 F2 champion Dean Stoneman, rely on their excellent F2 engineers alone.

Any driver can however have any person of their choice with him during a race weekend, be it engineer, driver coach or manager. Some drivers do indeed have what we call "ghost engineers" - typically experienced chassis engineers who work for and are paid for by that driver. Such engineers can have access to everything the driver does, so all his set up information and car data. Ghost engineers generally get on very well with the F2 engineers with good co-operation.